I don't mean that the way we used to when we were in college and partying. Today is World Toilet Day! The toilet, so simple, so necessary, so neglected. What has saved more lives than any other invention...the toilet. Yes it has brought sanitation and public health to nearly 2/3's of the World. Sadly today is a day to celebrate how far we have come and take note of how far we have to go.
Though we have the luxury to flush our not only functioning toilets. They are sophisticatedly designed, match our decorating scheme, come with heated seats, auto closing lids, and the capacity to be ultra high efficiency toilets using less than a gallon a flush. In the rest of the world there are 2.6 billion people who don't have access to this modern day miracle. In fact they have no access to safe and consistent sanitation.
What is the big deal? It is only a toilet. Oh if only it were just a toilet. Ask a 13 year old girl in Pakistan what a toilet is and she will tell you it is an education. Girls' educations are ended once they become "mature" and have no facilties for maintaining feminine hygiene. It is a lower infant mortality rate in India because the rivers they bathe in, wash clothes in, clean livestock in, and draw their cooking water from would not also be the waterway by which they convey waste away from their homes.
Everyday 5-10 times a day mindlessly we flush away waste. We don't ask where it goes. We don't take time to marvel at the sophisticated wastewater system that cleans that water pristine enough to be returned to the environment or in some water stressed areas cleaned well enough to drink.
Every day in the world the number one killer is water borne disease. Every 24 seconds a child dies from lack of access that we take for granted. Unless we are asking why we have to pay so much for water and sewer service. How many children died while you read this?
Just once on World Toilet Day when you flush it and forget it think about how lucky you are. If this meant anything to you and you feel grateful for all that our sophisticated water and sanitation systems afford us...hug a toilet!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Random Thoughts on Running and Women
I have to admit I am not a professional runner. I don't break the tape as the first woman in the races I run and I am relatively new to the sport. Soon to cross 1,000 miles a secret milestone I have coveted since I got serious about running this year. My husband would laugh because prior to 20 months ago when he asked me to run with him my usual answer was "why would I run...no one is chasing me." Then I realized as a 41 year old woman at the time something not someone was chasing me...middle age.
You can convince yourself with the best hair dye and most expensive eye cream that you will be young forever. But the reality is what you see in the mirror everyday is Newton's dream come true... living proof gravity exists and it is a cruel mistress. So it is fully armed with awareness that as a birthday present to my husband I slogged and silently prayed my way through my first 5-k in March of 2011. All the way saying "hope you enjoy this because I am never running again" adamantly stated by a soon to be Atlanta Track Club member who now springs out of bed on the Saturday of a race and waits patiently for the family runner to get ready to join me.
All of this running has taught me that running is different for women and there are a few universal truths in such an individual sport.
1) A female runner's best friend is a good sports bra. It is also the best friend of everyone who has ever watched a female runner without a good sports bra.
2) When you run a certain number of miles a week you should get a pass and be allowed to wear running tights to work. I mean you earned those glutes, thighs, and calves and it hardly seems fair that all that work has to be kept hidden.
3) Body glide is never too expensive.
4) You are running for something or from something. Women, unlike men, never do anything for no reason at all.
5) No matter what it is it will taste better after a run. For me that would be a bagel.
6) You can't out run middle age.
But after almost 2 years nearly 1,000 miles I do feel like I wink at Newton and say not quite yet. Have you seen me in my running tights?
You can convince yourself with the best hair dye and most expensive eye cream that you will be young forever. But the reality is what you see in the mirror everyday is Newton's dream come true... living proof gravity exists and it is a cruel mistress. So it is fully armed with awareness that as a birthday present to my husband I slogged and silently prayed my way through my first 5-k in March of 2011. All the way saying "hope you enjoy this because I am never running again" adamantly stated by a soon to be Atlanta Track Club member who now springs out of bed on the Saturday of a race and waits patiently for the family runner to get ready to join me.
All of this running has taught me that running is different for women and there are a few universal truths in such an individual sport.
1) A female runner's best friend is a good sports bra. It is also the best friend of everyone who has ever watched a female runner without a good sports bra.
2) When you run a certain number of miles a week you should get a pass and be allowed to wear running tights to work. I mean you earned those glutes, thighs, and calves and it hardly seems fair that all that work has to be kept hidden.
3) Body glide is never too expensive.
4) You are running for something or from something. Women, unlike men, never do anything for no reason at all.
5) No matter what it is it will taste better after a run. For me that would be a bagel.
6) You can't out run middle age.
But after almost 2 years nearly 1,000 miles I do feel like I wink at Newton and say not quite yet. Have you seen me in my running tights?
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